Teaching Jake about the Camcorder, Jan '97
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- Опубликовано: 2 мар 2021
- attaboy
join my patreon to see some behind the scenes of how i made this video: / briandavidgilbert
with help from karen han: / karenyhan
this is where brian david gilbert is:
/ briandavidgilbert
/ briamgilbert
/ briamgilbert 
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Look at you Mr Director!
hello mr game
Attaboy!
Rumble?... tumble game?
tumble rumble games
The next Steven Spielberg!
Brain is going to some WEIRD fucking places now that he's independent, and I am 100% here for it
It took my brain a bit too long to realize you misspelled Brian
@@kickmonlee3390 Don't you mean it took your brian too long?
what was he a part of before he was independent? I've only seen two videos of his lol
@@recluseren Polygon lol
@@biggaylol5438 thank you! gotta binge it all lol
I appreciate that he calls his kid the next Spielberg, since Spielberg famously explored absent fathers as a theme in a lot of his movies.
ohhhh SHIT
I never really thought about that
Okay, I'm gonna be a bit of a nerd about this. Having sat with this for a little while, I'm somewhat amused by the focus everyone is placing on piecing together a specific timeline, or trying to understand the specific beats of the story within the artwork-not unlike what Brian railed against in his last Unraveled video.
To me, I read this as a fairly straightforward tale of grief and refusal to accept, and how our brains reject reality and strive for meaning when faced with difficult truths. The frame-within-a-frame, as well as the Dad's comments about rewinding and recording over precious memories, draw particular attention to the layers of interpretation here. The camcorder video is a construct being played on an old TV, and that playback has been filmed and uploaded as this video. We are not watching the original moment with the Dad, we're watching an interpretation of an interpretation.
And once you acknowledge just how far we are from fact anymore, it calls into question everything else that happens. Every moment displayed on the Samsung TV screen is suspect, which is why I think it's more fruitful to examine them metaphorically or symbolically instead of literally. When the specter lurks over the Dad's shoulder, what do you feel? Like there was something lurking there. You want to call out and warn him. You feel powerless. Perhaps you feel like he should have known. Perhaps you feel like you should have told him. Contrast that with what happens when the Dad confronts the specter directly. You feel scared, maybe. Supportive. You share in his outrage-now you're on his side.
In this vein, I read the rabbit as, well... pareidolia. Reading meaning into a symbol when there is none. By the time the rabbit appears, we're afraid for the Dad, and we're doubting our own "memories", so we're primed to look for an answer. When the camera falls and our gaze is cast around the room, what we spot seems to take on extra meaning. Did the rabbit hold the key? Could it have saved the Dad-or, perhaps, was it responsible for what happened?
Our very act of trying to piece these things together, I'd argue, is the point, not actually knowing what happened. The evidence we have is shoddy, contradictory, over-written and tainted. If there is an actual picture there, our very insistence upon finding it may have barred us from doing so. We can't even remember what the Dad's facial hair looked like. There was a factually correct answer, but the Viewer watching on the Samsung TV can't remember it anymore, and we, watching on RUclips, have no way of knowing. And so, when we, ourselves, watching on RUclips, see all these fragmented memories, hinting at a story beyond what is immediately apparent, we want to string them together, we want to make a tale out of it-even though we will never, _ever_ know. There may not even be a story there at all, just fragments that we desperately want to assemble, just as we do when faced with immense grief.
Personally, I'm fond of the most mundane interpretation: One day, the Dad left. He didn't die, he wasn't taken by a malevolent spirit. He just left. He walked out the door and never left a reason why.
That can't be right, of course. There must be a reason why he left. Maybe there's something we missed, some clue in a key frame of our memories. There must be a bigger story at play.
So we'll hit "replay" and watch again. It'll make sense this time.
Sir, this is a Wendy's
this is actually a very very good interpretation of this… i like it
So your saying the rabbit was the demon man of shadowy death
In all seriousness damn man just damn this really got me thinking
you're brilliant
this is by far the most compelling interpretation of this video tbh. i think you're really onto something here
"I want to make stuff people do unraveleds about" -BDG
Well this definitely unraveled my sanity. So you know that's on course.
That's pretty meta...
Jumped something people do unraveled about and skipped to get matpat you taking notes cause your going to need them for my filmtheory
Well he definitely accomplished that, I have many questions.
boy that was fast, I thought it would be a few months before something hit that scale
sir, um, you really did forget to put jokes in this. I am gonna go have nightmares and cry now.
He called him a BIG SHOT director. If that's not a joke, I don't know what is.
I had to get off the toilet i was so frightened. Wtf (ps love your channel)
I'm gonna abuse the fact that there's currently 2 comments and say that I love your channel too. Also although it may not have jokes I do find it funny that this is arguably his first sketch with lore and yet it's horrific. I do like the new areas he's delving into.
The joke was sanity, it always has been
Yooo raz, love your content, I guess it makes sense that viewers of you would have similar preferences.
the thing that hit me upon this rewatch is that beard dad says “say something” to the intruder and mustache dad says “say something” to Jake.
Mustache dad vs beard dad coming to a theater near you
This may be me reaching, but before he said "You're not--" it looked like there was a reflection of a figure in his right lens of his glasses, similar to the figure that was in the hallway, right after he told Jake to say something.
oh fuck
@@greatgamegal the same figure is off to the side in the second recording when he's showing Jake the record button, and you can see it's shadow till it rewinds again.
shitttt, the intruder could be jake rewatching the tape over and over
mmmmmmmmmmm there's so many interpretations and all of them make me sadness-
After rewatching the clip for god knows how many times
The shriek in the second last rewind did not go away as the tape rewinded
It's not the dad's shriek, it's Jake's
Oh fuck...
God I hate that what have you done
I can't believe you've done this.
I literally just squirmed
wait, why is he screaming??
bdg makes two kinds of videos:
1. skit where he breaks into song midway
2. what the fuck
Both?
It's what I subbed for TBH
indeed 😌
I don't see the difference.
3. somehow making you understand the crushing nature of reality
that one time Brian became an SCP
This is at least the second time. Unless you aren't counting the time he became his own boss and you can too
why dont you join us
SCP-987 is like this but much flashier and not nearly as creepy. Dr.Bob did an episode about it
How did I not know that you watch BDG?
@@WomenRespecter9000 I’m still halfway through preparing my jeans for jorting, I don’t have TIME to earn $20K every month by becoming my own boss
and you can do it too
What do you mean became?
the delay between BDG videos is largely dependent on the time required to assemble the required hair/facial hair
and yet, still well worth the wait. ^_^
This is never going to be Brian's most popular video. It's not easily rewatchable, not quippy or funny. Not even super easy to share. But I think this is the most impressive video he's done. It's a really simple, really well executed concept and a hell of a clever idea. Legitimate subversive horror with just enough of a silly veneer to draw you in. It even has a strong, positive moral message despite being so inherently unsettling and designed to draw out negative emotions. Just absolutely excellent.
I'm viscerally afraid to rewatch this, and after binging his entire channel after starting with the ice cream maker video and coming to this last (entirely by chance), I'm thoroughly convinced of BDG's precise cinematographic power. I could watch the whole of humanity's horror collection and never feel this again.
yeah its hard to watch in the best way possible. it just elicits such a visceral reaction
@@benjamindesjarlais5713 that's what I was doing, and i was in a situation of really needing to hear the message behind it too
Forril this video is a masterpiece.
Not a single jumpscare and scarier than 90% of horror movies nowadays. Look at you Mr director.
Mr Big Shot Director
Tbh tysm for confirming no jumpscares 😅
@@psyducktective the next Steven Spielberg!
@@thomasphotos8466 Goodness!
Unironic lifesaver, thanks bro
What Brian said: "I want to make the stuff people in the future want to make unraveled about"
What Brain meant: "I Want to make cryptic shit you need multiple analysis videos about to understand"
What Brian intended: “I want to drive you to the insanity you drove me. I want you to find my secrets and have them mock you. I want your soul to unravel to the point where you can’t even taste it anymore. I want you to learn what you put me through.”
And with this comment thread, the Eldritch being known as bdg grew more powerful still
Hello, Nightmind? We need your help
Theres something about short-form horror that really just works. In a way, because its not fleshed out, you dont necessarily need to over-analyze it. It kinda made no sense really, but that works in its favor. Long horror movies are forced to he nuanced, clever, build characters. This is just a self-aware video tape being haunted by an eldrich horror. Why? Doesnt matter. But did the hair on the back of your neck stand up? You bet it did
Praise he who worship the grander tongue of old bay and let him bask in the horseless fields as none have before him.
What's cool about this is that he technically set the rules of the world up at the beginning, but it was so seamless that you barely even realize. Damn good storytelling.
Could you elaborate on what were the rules of the world?
@@LinhNguyen-oc4sm Between :50 and 1:28
0:50 1:28
"never touch the rewind"
"how to make jorts" and "be your own boss" both had comedic elements to them, but this one just. it just completely threw me for a turn. im not a very big horror fan because i get scared really easily and ive tried to watch this in full a few times. im not really sure how to feel after this. it was definitely well made though, that's for sure
I had to pause like 3 times cuz I keep feeling like I’m being watched
So that’s cool
My skin was crawling for a solid while after this, I didn’t just get jump-scared or see a really disturbing image that I never wanted to see, I wanted to see every second of this, it was eerie, downright frightening at times, but it was amazing. I haven’t been able to rewatch this that many times for the same reason as you, I get scared too easily, but this was an emotional rollercoaster and the (traditional, I say this because I was frightened even in the early parts just by the presentation) scariest parts were “shadowy humanoid figure wearing what looks like a black hoodie and saying nothing” “pan to bunny doll dad’s gone now” and “literally just someone screaming”. Brian is an amazing actor and I don’t know how much of this Karen Han contributed but she deserves credit too they both made such a good video.
Remember when BDG made that video about people making fun of his laugh? What an evolution
He’s always made videos like this
Haha, what?
Haha, what?
We have never/ we will never meet, but it is a pleasant surprise to see Esquirebob back on RUclips.
The fisrt one I saw
As soon as he said, "are you sure I never taught you this before" I knew shit was about to go down
SAME I was like oh god here we go again
For me, it was when he said 'deja vu'.
For me, it was the never rewind
Sameee
honestly i thought it was gonna be wholesome till i saw the weird sillouette in the second play through, but i was kinda suspicious when i heard "rewind over precious memory"
Something noticed on a rewatch is that mustache dad is the only one to notice or contact the viewer, while goatee and beard dad both seem to end up in a state of paranoia, fear, or pain. They're also the ones who continue to go on with the original video, always starting somewhere in the original timeline before changing it, while mustache dad can directly start by speaking to the viewer without needing to use a jumping off point somewhere in the tape
Aha! The beards sap their power!
"Oh, this isn't actually as frightening as people make it out to be."
*shadowy figure flashes behind TV*
EXACTLY, THATS WHAT I WAS THINKING.
it fucking caught jake
It does line up with the dad leaving in the end though, i thought it was the dad coming in after he left the video-reality.
There wasn’t a single jumpscare in the entire video only makes it scarier
Kind of one jump scare for me. Followed by bracing for another jump scare that never came.
I just scrolled down to check for jumpscare warnings (I'm at @6:20), and I'm going to be grumpy if I have to come back down here to complain because I just got jumpscared.
ETA: Ok then. Attaboy.
Yeah was gonna say I was really appreciative of the lack of jumpscares 😅
i was waiting for one the entire time and it never came
I think there’s a very subtle jump scare near the end. More unsettling than frightening. It leaves me with more questions than answers.
As soon as I saw the blue tint in the thumbnail I said, "That's horror blue. This is a horror video."
...you're so right. O.o I think that's how I subconsciously knew to avoid this video until I was "prepared" for it. If I'm not in the mood for a horror video, I put it off sometimes for a couple days. Normally I watch every BDG upload as soon as it goes up, but something told me I didn't want to watch that one at the time. I had a feeling going into it today when I watched, but I didn't pick up on the thumbnail, or specifically, the blue. It's even visible in the Earn $20K Every Month By Being Your Own Boss thumbnail (in his shirt and the glare on the laptop). I wonder what it is about that specific color that gives horror vibes?
@@disasterjones5798 it kinda reminds me of the slenderman videos as well. I dunno what it is about that blue man... But that's straight up horror blue. Maybe it's the cold, chilling, old-timey feel of it
@@disasterjones5798 BRO. I avoided this video as well for a week but I didn't really know why because I watch all of BDG's stuff.
@@disasterjones5798 I think it's because of how unnatural this shade of blue is, personally.
@@disasterjones5798 Guys that's freaky I avoided this video for a month until now but I had no idea it would be one of the existential dread ones thought it was gonna be funny
Ah yes, finally we've discovered the next way to say, "haha, what?"
There's a lot of comments doing in-depth analysis on this, so I'm just gonna try a more simple route: the POV character, Jake, is rewatching old tapes of his dad, but we aren't actually rewatching those tapes themselves, we're seeing the memories that the tapes are bringing up. His father was murdered by an intruder, and Jake heard it all, but he didn't see it, he was a little kid and got distracted (hence the pan over to the rabbit while the dad is yelling at the intruder). All he can remember is his dad yelling at the intruder and, later, his dad screaming after being attacked. He doesn't know who the intruder was, which is why all we see is just a silhouette. Everytime he tries to reminisce on normal memories, his brain goes back to the break in and it "records over" the old memories. When the dad says "You're not," he's not saying anything ground breaking, just "You're not listening," or "You're not going to be able to fix it." Jake knows that he can't do anything, but he keeps replaying the memories in his head, he keeps looking back. Jake finally decides to stop looking at the tapes (hence the dad leaving), but the fear that whatever happened to his dad is still there, which is why we see the "intruder' outside the tv, they aren't actually there, but the fear of them is
Edit: the dad leaving at the end could also be part of how Jake is distorting his own memories. by focusing on what was and what could have been, he ends up focusing solely on the fact that his dad is no longer there, writing over the happy memories
I like this theory the most
Solid theory
Or the slight uncomfortable squint and inquisitive stare means “You’re not”…jake
Looking directly at the fourth wall and us the audience
16 days ago this man was singing about the zjierbness of biting into a pickle.
This video has a certain... zjierbness
Watching this video made me experience...
✨ *zjierb* ✨
he has the range, baybee!
I think you mean 23 years from now
zjierb? Nah man, we need a word for that feeling when you watch a profoundly horrifying video and are caught completely off guard
Brian: I'm leaving Polygon
me: :-(.
Brian: I'm leaving Polygon to do spooky dad vids and hair tutorials
me: :-).
I ruined the 69 likes >:D
He left? I thought he was just ending the Unraveled series
@@brock1787 Yeah he left amicably.
And sing about pickles
@@brock1787 Yeah, he left entirely. He did an interview and explained that he wanted to be free of doing referential material. Still on very very good terms with everyone, though.
This made me cry. I expected the horror, but what I wasn't expecting was the grief. I didn't get very many photos or videos of my dad before he passed, so I've almost entirely forgotten his voice and his laugh and other little details, and this just really hit home for me. We have a few pictures of him scattered around the house and sometimes, even 10 years later, I'll find myself staring at them and wishing he'd just walk through the front door, home in time for dinner.
The "you're an adult now" bit made me sob. He never even got to see me turn 11. I often think about whether or not he'd be proud of me, whether or not he'd like the adult I'd become.
It also really hit home the sections where Brian had a goatee, because he looked so strikingly similar to my dad.
same
@@makalinus this feels sarcastic
me too, im sorry for your loss.i lost my dad at 10 and my mom last year at 30. i wasnt prepared, i cried for a good 45 mins.
@@lillyvalley7362 i'm sorry for your loss as well. i hope you're doing alright and i wish for your healing journey to be smooth
@@twobats thank you for your kind message
The small touch that the distorted screaming doesn’t stop when the tape starts rewinding is extremely unsettling in a way I can’t pinpoint. Really amazing work.
its Jak escreaming
I think we can thank the advertising budget for Crash 4 for this one
Because it's a very expensive piece of equipment that Jake is holding?
this cost way more than crash 4 ruclips.net/video/dvHkX94vfh4/видео.html
Thanks Crash!
@@StupiderWithAB dude, don't advertise your videos on someone else's RUclips channel.
@@StupiderWithAB lame
One of the saddest parts of this video is (imo) the father calling for his wife, who never comes. If we're going with the idea of a home invasion, that probably means she was already dead when he called for her.
bro. chills.
I think the dad died, but later. The dad or the mom must have been the one who labeled the VHS tape . . . I think Jake is trying to relive the happy memory that was on it, but his dread and knowledge of what happened later is dragging him down.
I was already terrified and upset enough by the suspense and fear of a jump scare I didn't need this theory too. That being said, cool and very upsetting idea
I think that part is like the idealized idea of wanting a perfect family, which never comes.
Nooooo, stop it omghasdajnasca
"Well look at you, Mr. Bigshot Director!"
- Brian, every morning, to his mirror
Now I'm seeing him as Dale.
I felt truly unsettled, and it took me a rewatch to clearly understand why.
At first I thought Jake was looking for clues on why his father left, and what could have kept their relationship alive.
Then I realized it was me looking for clues on how this masterpiece of a video actually creates a narrative.
Then I realized I was the one forcing the dad (and Jake, I'll get to that) to relive the memories, just to look for the next clue.
"Never press rewind, we want the recording to keep going forward", and yet I rewatched the video.
Then the dad realizes that technically it's not Jake doing the rewinding, but us (the confused "you're not--" is a clue on that).
And then the scream, it keeps going even though the tape is being rewinded, so since the dad can't be screaming, and I'm not screaming, it's Jake.
He's screaming because I'm forcing him to relive s traumatic memory, the time when his father left. And I'm the monster who keeps on silently watching this memory that both the dad and Jake wanted to stow away.
The first instance I found myself into were I, as the viewer, am the villain. It felt amazing.
Holy shit your a genius
I kinda felt like that jake is rewatching this tape, and is getting somthing out of it. At the end, the jake saw the dad. Jake probably just wanna see his father again. And that's by making him get up and turn off the tv.
But nice idea
This kind of reminds me of Stephen King's Dark Tower. the narrator tells us explicitly that we can either stop reading and let the story end as it is, bittersweet, or if we must keep reading we will keep our protagonist in the cycle of trials and pain that he can't seem to escape
i think this read only works if you rewatch the video multiple times tho.... i've only watched it once, so... i can't be the one rewinding
@@sarads7877I thought about that, and maybe it's not just me, the single viewer, who's the villain, but he's experiencing this for each of us watching the video. First time for you, millionth time for him.
Back when it was Swedes and the Autobiography, I just assumed the creepiness was comedic effect and an oddball approach to the punchline. Once we hit Jorts the theory got a little more twisted about his approach to humorous videos. Now with $20k per month and this, I finally understand that Brian's true calling was not Polygon or video games.
Brian David Gilbert is destined to be a horror film director.
Godspeed, you be-shingled emperor.
I’m waiting on more cooking videos but this is good too.
Agreed. I make Pepcorn at least once a week now.
@@ShupperDupper and possibly also more hurdey gurdey
Man, I never watched the Swedes video. I hope it was good.
@@Wewerefunny THIS ONES FOR THE SWEDES (SWEDES!), A CURSORY GLANCE AT YOUR' WIKI PAGE, TELLS ME THAT YOU'VE GOT A KING
Nothing speaks bdg more than calling their kid "bud"
Man everyone calls their kids 'bud' now.
If you want to see something almost funny check out my comedy. Just give me a chance to make you laugh 😀🙌🙌🙌
@@croaker_ well... this is 1997....
Buddy is my go-to dad affection term so there ya go
This is such a clever horror story because it isn't exactly scary at first, it's just really sad,
but once you watch the entire video you start piecing the whole puzzle together and it becomes a mix of straight up disturbing sadness
Are you willing to elaborate? I get the sadness bit and it memory and moving on and the weird intruder is obviously some scary guy but don’t think I’ve pieced together the story
you know how he goes "you're not-" and then then the tape rewinds, implying he's saying "you're not Jake"? i think we're the ones torturing him by rewinding the video, looking for narrative clues and coming up with theories, going back to the beginning over and over again distorting what once was an untouched memory. the reason the figure in the back is a shadowy silhouette is because it represents all of us and any one of use
Personally I interpreted that as his disappointment as he saw Jake going to rewind it again, but that's a really interesting take on it too
i think he meant. "You're not-"
"you're not gonna bring me back"
@@idkbrah473 Idk, there's a clear look of confusion just before that line, which means the father is being confronted with something he doesn't recognise.
@@Irisverse true, but he was kind of saying in the other parts of the video" watchign this is not gonna bring me back" or along those lines so, it would make sense. it would be alot more horrifying if it wasn't jake, because that makes the last shot alot more...
You know, another commenter made another good point
That scream wasn’t his dad, it was jake
In the last one, he just looks and leaves.
I get the feeling he would be saying you’re not jake to what made him scream, presumably the dark figure
In like a month he should delete this and "reupload it" but it's juuuuuust different enough for us to feel confused and crazy about if our memory was right or not
THIS WOULD BE SO COOL
it would be better if it was in a year or something so people could have almost entirely forgotten about it
Ohhhhh my goddddd
they did that with Too Many Cooks and its haunted me for years
@@joannawood7352 wait WHAT
The weirdest thing isn't the screenwriting, the editing or the cinematography
It's the fact he didn't sing a single time
What do you mean the creepy entity is not gonna sing about his pants?
*jorts
I mean, he didn't sing when he was making 20K a month by being his own boss. But that isn't even the wildest part. The wildest part....
@@finderfinder4290 why don’t you join me? :) why don’t you join me? :) why don’t y
Give up on your dreams of reliving nostalgia,
you gotta give up on your dreams!
_(clap clap)_
I've got a cool son, his name is Jake,
He's reliving his memories but that's a big mistake,
It's just one recording; why not watch that tape?
But it's way more serious than it seems.
Out in the real world is where you should be,
making brand new memories that don't involve me.
Go film a movie, or climb a tree!
'Cause it's time to give up on your dreams.
_(clap clap)_
Got a tape from '97 where you were an all-star,
but rewatching that tape will only get you so far,
and the shadow monster is a little bizarre,
Jake, you're _definitely_ going to extremes.
Why not get yourself a lucrative position?
Become a director, do movie pitching!
'Cause while I do admire your ambition
You need to give up on this dream.
_(clap clap)_
I used to think for your movie I'd write,
Then, well, I died, so that made things quite tight,
I get to see you now, though, so everything's all right,
But _please_ stop making me scream?
I love this old video; our joking around,
But now there's a demon bunny around?
And I have a beard? Geez, I look like a clown!
Jake, just give up on this dream.
_(clap clap)_
You've been watching this video all through the night,
You rewound left, you fast-forwarded right,
I'd like you to move on, if that's all right,
Because I think it's an-
(screaming)
(static)
@@Grace-ir8er well this does, and i want BGD to sing it
Honestly the part that hits the hardest for me isn’t even the theme of the whole video, it just the emotion and panic in his voice when he’s confronting the intruder. It just sound so real and unsettling.
YOU’VE BEEN HERE THE WHOLE TIME 😡
Brian over here building his BDG cinematic universe of horror and jorts.
"Truly a zjierb experience." -Polygon
But, the real question is; is each Brian a different Brian? Or is Jakes Dad and Jorts Brian the same guy? Who made the pepcorn? Which timeline is Dart Brian in?
Jorror?
@@riIeywilson Well obviously Dart Brian is ending up in the very far future, when war is a whisper of the past due to the dartening. The pepercorn might represent the futile struggles to gain happiness in our current corrupt systems and world, which is later reflected in the dart video where it is revealed that only through darts can we achieve true happiness, unlike peppercorn which is the facade of a greater meaning. So I would say that peppercorn and dart Brian and peppercorn Brian are the same Brian, just separated by time. Not sure about the others though.
Horror 👖
"Look at you Mr. Director, Mr. Big Shot Director over here! The next Steven Spielberg, goodness." -BDG, to himself
I am the cool kid from Germany making videos for the USA and the rest of the world. I will make your day so don't say nay to my videos today, dear ahhh
no, it's... to us.
axxl is less obnoxious than usual this time but still reporting him
Stop making me laugh out loud. Fuck
If you want to see something almost funny check out my comedy. Just give me a chance to make you laugh 😀🙌🙌🙌
I’d like to point out that the Goatee Dad’s inhuman scream extends beyond the rewind function.
Even when Jake tries to rewind the tape to forget, he can never forget the scream.
Nah man, I think the implication here is that it's not the father's scream, it's Jake's scream.
My interpretation:
The thing in all black is dread, Jake is watching this knowing it's the last recording of their father. The changing attitudes, length of hair and facial hair is about the imperfection of memory influencing Jake's interpretation of the video as he begins to forget what his dad looked and acted like making him interpret the video differently. The reaction to the bunny is Jake suddenly remembering he was a child once, which is a thought that seems alien now that he's on the other side of losing a parent. His dad walking out of the room is a further representation of his dad being gone and there being nothing he could do about it. The silhouette appearing in the door way is the dread of impending death moving on to Jake, it might not happen soon but Jake knows death is waiting for him at any moment just like it did for his dad. All of the pleading his dad did with the Jake watching the video was him trying to tell his son to let it go and live his life without dwelling on his past or future loss.
the changing of facial hair between takes really did a great job in lowering my guard. was expecting things to get goofier instead of terrifying. well done!
You didn't notice the terrifying shadow person in the corner during the second take's "zoom in" scene?
Really? As soon as I saw the rewind and then something changed I was like "oh this will get surreal and terrifying, won't it?"
Always expect things to get terrifying, around here.
I know. Even though I had heard it was gonna be another horror movie, I forgot about that and was focused on finding the silly differences on Brian. Then the video hit me like a fucking truck.
When he didn’t say “like deja vu” the second time and the pause afterward got longer, I know it was gonna change for the worse, just didn’t know it would break the fourth wall like that.
In a way, Brian switching gears from comedy to horror is perhaps the most effective way to properly instill true fear into his audience. You get so used to there being a punchline, a joke, a moment of brevity to release the building tension. Then, he makes this--a video with no laughter, no relief from the anticipation that fills within you the entire way through, until you're left with nothing but this overwhelming sense of dread. It's a form of horror that strikes you so much harder, because it comes so unexpectedly.
well said.
levity*
It started creeping me out before it even got weird.
He played the long game
I think I should've finished the video before reading this comment but also well said
This gave me some real visiting my great grandmother with Alzheimer vibes. The repetition of the same conversation, sometimes with clarity of the present, sometimes without. The "who are you's" especially were disturbing to me as I remember her frequently being unable to recognize my mother, or mistaking her for my grandmother, while other times she would snap into the present and be horrified and extremely apologetic over her mental state.
Anyone rewatching this after Deja Vu on game changer??
I cannot say with words how much I love Dad Gilbert. He is a comforting presence
Edit: oh no
MOOD
oh no
haha more like DEAD gilbert
@@crazydo1phin11 oh no
I KNOW I FELT LIKE HE WAS MY REAL DAD
Brian, remember us when you're making a critically acclaimed horror movie in 5 years please
Actually imagine what one of these would be like for a whole hour
@@Soulbeastian I would probably float out of my body and up into a black hole after watching it
Mr big shot director, Brian Gilbert
The first one needs to be about the jorts
Maybe team up with Ponysmasher.
I lost my dad a few years ago. I’ve had this on my watch later list for months because 1. I’m a fan and 2. I work with VHS for a lot of my video work.
In the last few years I’ve digitized old home movies from the 90s both to archive them and reuse the tapes for my own projects. Around Xmas/his birthday I’ll sometimes make an edit to share and show fam/friends. It’s not a fun time of year for me, and I’ll find myself watching the clips over and over. Always burst out crying when I find a new moment we had. This year I found him pointing the camera down to me and saying “Happy new year Kev” and 6yo me saying “happy new year Daddy” right before the tape cuts out. I’ve probably watched it 100 times in the last few days.
I can’t tell you how disturbed I was at one point during this short. When you confront him about rewatching the tapes, holy shit. Ik not everyone will have the same experience as me watching this. But bravo seriously, great work (I’m a big boy now and film maker myself, it’s ok)
my dad died in june. i started transitioning shortly before he passed. this video was already killing me when you said "look at you, you're all grown up" but that moment when you say "you're not-" fuckin destroyed me. i love this video
Two people with a VHS recorder just casually made the most unsettling horror short film I've seen in years. That pained scream was the shit of nightmares. Well done.
And the fact it continued while rewinding for a moment was very unsettling.
This seriously was terrifying. That slow pan to the stuffed animal and back to Brian? That shit had me scared af.
This reminds me of Midsommar, in terms of looking at themes of horror/suspense through the lense of grief. I like this more than Midsommar, felt it was just as tense and gut-wrenchingly tragic, and it's under ten dang minutes long. I'm just reeling here...
that scream was just... wow. it really got to me
he's a fantastic actor
This is definitely that feeling I get when I bite into a pickle and it’s not as crunchy as I thought it’d be.
Ah yes
zjierbness
Zjierbness is now defined as the feeling when you feel shaken after you watch a BDG video.
zjierbriety, question mark?
Zjierbness
My theory is when he says “WHO ARE YOU” over and over he is not talking to the ‘entity’ he’s talking to Jake, he says “talk, say something” to the‘ entity’ and he says that to “Jake” too. “Honey” never responded because only dad is trapped in the tape.
I just realized that maybe it is death itself that is watching the tape... Would explain the shadow at the end and why the dad seems to walk down into the basement where the TV is.
@@crashingflamingo3028 wow
I legitimately have never been more terrified in my life, guess it's time to learn how to make jorts because I just shat mine
nice
The fact that there are no jump-scares makes this actually enjoyable.
I got pretty jump scared by that shadowy figure, but that might have been because I was talking to my roommate when it happened.
Jump scares are important to horror to the point of not even being a trope within the genre, but yeah, they're absolutely not mandatory.
Yeah but what's so bad about them? I love them, mainly because they scare the hell out of my cousin
@@iabandonedthechanneld7738 personally jumpscares ruin a piece of media for me because they stress me out so much more than any other technique in horror. Feeling the nervous anticipation and waiting for the thing to happen is so stressful it kills any enjoyment I was getting out of the piece. I totally understand that what I described IS the appeal for some people, but I think some of the best horror(especially on RUclips) dont use such cheap tricks and that the calm inevitably of the decent into horror is what makes them excellent (I'm referring to Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, and I consider BDG's surreal horror works to be successful for the same reasons)
@@MrSaturnMusic I guess it kinda depends on the genre of horror, and how well a jump scare can fit in with it. Personally I like jump scares because I like the surprise when I get it, and the main horror game I like has jump scares always come when you least expect it.
Brian's form of horror appears to be probably the scariest type in that it feels so intimate and casual, horror that works with the familiar. A father teaching his son how to use a camcorder, a guy making 20k on spreadsheets from an unknown donor, a how to make Jorts. All of these scenarios feel like something you've seen before but get utterly warped with the realisation that something is off. This is another banger in the line of funky internet man decides to scare the shit out of us.
I've heard this style referred to as "domestic horror" by a few people and it's an apt term imo.
@@LJNdeed I think I once heard "mundane horror" Still don't know if it's a fitting term but I like it
Kafka but disillusioned with modern life and tech
@@user-rx3ny9ji8i I'm positively sure it's called "jorts horror".
Don't forget 2030 is the year he'll die and he sees it everyweek.
Have anyone seen the demon?
Yes! The Hitchcock theory of the most terrifying moments being in the everyday: riding a train, looking out your back window, etc
I love the gradual zoom in throughout the video. It's so slow that you don't notice it until the CRT is right up in your face and dominating the entire frame. Really ingenious way to literally "pull you in" as a viewer.
This video is amazing and incredibly unsettling. There is one thing that just won’t leave me alone.
Who or what is watching the tape?
The scene that started this horrifying thought is 7:10 when the dad slowly realizes he may have been interacting with something beyond his understanding. “Your not-“ and the scene before it where he hyperventilates and disappears.
Every scene after the dad is no longer a loving father but instead acts like a frightened animal. His first instinct is fear, then rage, and he finally gives up in the end.
i think it’s the dad. the dad mistakes the viewer for jake as an adult at the beginning because he doesn’t recognize an older version of himself
“Never press the rewind button or you might record over precious memories, we can always start a new tape”. I think this encapsulates the entire meaning and message of the video, the more you try to go back in time, the more broken those memories will become. Keep those memories as they are, joyous, precious - and keep moving forward in life, start a new tape- don’t try to interfere with the old ones.
I think it might also be about processing grief/trauma -- when you look back at something after grief/trauma, sometimes it seems "tainted" for a while (especially while having flashbacks). Eventually, you're able to look at memories and hold them as they are, and it still hurts, but the pain is duller. Even good memories can be unbearably painful (and sometimes confusing), but slowly they become bittersweet.
I think that part in the video where the dad tells Jake that he's not going to find what he's looking for by playing the tapes over and over, and that he doesn't want Jake to get stuck really adds to that idea.
If you spend too much time going over your memories over and over, wishing you could go back or wishing that someone was still here with you, it's easy to get stuck spinning your wheels and ignoring your life as it currently is and as it will be. At some point, you've gotta stop replaying the tape and get back out there. That tape will always be there if you want to see it again, but you've also got a lifetime of new memories out there waiting for you.
Thanks to this little thread for helping me stop analyzing it literally. Because yeah while watching I was definitely like “this is a magic camera and there’s 20 recordings of the same moment because he keeps forgetting it.”
But you guys are right. It isn’t about the dad, honestly. It’s about Jake, searching for closure, or a hint as to what happened to lead to however his life is now. And sometimes you’re not going to find that no matter how hard you try. You just have to accept it as it is and move forward. Start a new tape.
Ok but what about the frickin shadow demon?
@@BrigsbyDowers physical representation of the grief? clearly most of this can't be real, so the shadow is just a representation of how replaying these memories over and over is actually affecting his real life? At least that is the best I can manage to read from it.
Yes it is unsettling, but I think it’s more sad than anything. It’s a story about loss and grief and trying to hold on. Jake obviously lost his father at a very young age and is trying desperately to hold on to what little he can remember of him. Jake is watching the tape, but it’s metaphorical of the few memories he has of his father. As time goes on, and he rewinds the tape over and over, things change. He starts to forget what his dad’s hair was like, and then he forgets words, and then after so long, his conscience steps in to tell him to finally step away. To let go. I think the end is metaphorical of how even though Jake is holding on so tightly, he’ll never be able to remember forever, and at some point, the memory of his dad just... slips away.
Edit: Also, when that tall figure shows up, I think it’s the reality of Jake’s fathers death creeping back into Jake’s mind. He’s trying to keep it out with these tapes and memories, but he can’t escape the truth forever.
i thought it was an scp, but this is kinda deep.
OMG THIS MAKES SO MUCH SENSE. BRILLIANT
I agree with this comment
I knew the video was dealing with loss, but was still confused with a couple of things and couldn't really piece everything in my mind. But you put it into words so well, great job!
jake's feeling somehow similar with the feeling i get when i listen to "snowman" by SIA..
i love the way bdg and karen use technology and the way it evolves and becomes obsolete. ive always been fascinated in the way the internet reinvents faerie stories of old, with its infinite unyielding nature, the ease with which a name can be stolen, and this style of storytelling really captures that horror.
this hit me so hard, my parents are both gone and my mom took so many videos. one day i found a video of my dad saying 'one day you'll be watching this all grown up, so always remember-" and then the tape ended. i fell into a depression replaying it. this video is that decent into a behavior that eventually breaks your mind - well done, honestly i think you should explore more of these themes
what if it ended that way on purpose as a prank
If you had told me a year ago that one of the top emergent horror content creators on RUclips was going to be Brian David Gilbert I would have said "I mean maybe??"
tru
I’ve seen jorts
@@FosukeLordOfError This is just a sequel
Have you seen jorts? It wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when
@@siennahartle9069 Oh for sure. He was always cooking it up.
I turned off the video after he said to stop rewatching the tape:
The good ending
indeed
Shit. Maybe that's what the whole thing is about...
I never expected the funny guy from polygon to make some of the most genuinely scary content ive seen on RUclips. I'm surprised film theory hasn't gotten onto this.
For how fucking horrifying this was to watch, it also made me viscerally wish I had any video footage of my mom. When he started taking about 'whatever you're looking for, you're not going to find it here' I just started crying. Grief is weird.
Alternate title: BDG teaches everyone how to do psychological horror correctly
Yes.
I haven’t even seen the video yet I’m worried
Am I going to make it out the other side?
I love this video, but there is no such thing as a correct way to make a certain type of art
The fact that there wasn’t a single jumpscare in the entire video only makes it scarier
It’s waiting for something that doesn’t come... now it feels like somethings gonna get me after the video ends :P
I was waiting for it
Idk brian starting to scream kinda scared me
the part where the dark figure was suddenly stood in the doorway was enough of a jumpscare for me
The part where Jake was rotating the camera had me panicking
“You’re zooming in, buddy” also applied to focusing on the tape, rewatching it over and over. Small thing but I noticed it
Okay so like.... This really messed with me. Something about the part where he just hyperventilates and the ambiguous end sticks with you for a while, and this has had more of an effect on me than most actual horror has since I was little. I watched it the day it came out and felt really shaken haha
Anyhow I really adore the video
Being subscribed to Bdg is like a gamble. Sometimes it’s an addicting song. Sometimes it’s funny. And sometimes, you can’t sleep for the next week. But they are all good
I'm here for it, mostly by choice
@@audreygilmore7408 I didn't choose this. I think it chose me and there's no escapevqbaräévBV!ÄQ§O-Khûwürpi31l hzIUHÖ=)PIFFHB!Oq9rupgöbq4r8ÑequpaîvjoqrqhGquoäö.,,@,jhvbö oäqp34h3190+qäj-a Great video! I loved it! So glad you chose to quit your job and now get to do whatever you like
@@notAshildr this gave me a flash back to his "make you own hours and be your own boss" video. You cryptic writing threw me off
ah yes, the two genres.
“siblings” and “how to make jorts”
BDG breaking the 4th wall: "Jake"
Me, a Russian woman: "yes that's me"
Привет Джейк, какой молодец, мистер Директор
Also me: "I guess my real name is Jake now"
me, jay: "dude, so close"
I think when he gets cut off as he's saying "you're not" (around 6:56) he was going to say you're not Jake, presumably Jake is stuck, so the Fourth wall holds because it isn't us. Maybe also explains why the next clip was the one where he screams, because he knows it's not Jake so Jake is stuck. Then he leaves because if we're not Jake what's the point of staying? Idk, but we're definitely not supposed to be Jake either way so whoever we are the fourth wall aspect fits
I love the slight differences in colors. The unsettling closeups have a bluer tint and other times there's a pinkish glow on the top
The loops where BDG has a goatee are what actually happened. Jake's father was taken by something. An intruder, or a disease. Or maybe he just left. The loops where BDG has a mustache are what Jake _wishes_ would have happened. He wishes his father got to see him all grown up. He wishes his father was there to give him advice, and tell him what was right and what was wrong. But what actually happened was his father being scared of something that Jake didn't fully understand, which is represented by the rabbit. He remembers hearing his dad screaming in fear, or perhaps pain. The details don't matter, what matters is that we are seeing how Jake remembers his dad, followed by how he wishes he could remember him. The final loop, where Jake's dad just says "attaboy" and leaves, signifies Jake no longer needing him. He has nothing left to teach him, Jake already knows how to use the camcorder. Whether you wanna interpret that as Jake moving on from his grief, or Jake wishing that his father left on happier terms, is up to you. If there is any hope for Jake, it's the fact that the shadowy figure in the end leaves as quickly as it arrives.
Wtf! Is this just your interpretation? Or is that legit what BDG was going for?
Hey guys, welcome back to:
"Oh my god, what the fuck, what the fuck, you're scaring me." by Brian David Gilbert
Jake: *losing any semblance of sanity he had left*
His dad: “mr BIG SHOT director”
Me when that's an expensive piece of technology I'm holding
@@beyondsalami me when I’m the next Steven Spielberg
@@hidingdiscord5141 me when i should never press the rewind button
I am now realizing that "or you might record over a precious memory" is referring to Jake focusing on what happened to Jake's dad rather than who Jake's dad was as a person
BDG has brought analog horror to Game Changer
As a Jake, this was more unsettling than I could possibly describe
Random, but ok.
@@scaroe89 Wdym random? Are you trolling me rn?
@@pikatsyu8440 why is it because your a jake
XD
While I was watching it I was feeling very glad not to be a Jake lol
I see that the money BDG has made from filling out those spreadsheets has allowed him to tell his most ambitious story yet.
Most ambitious is debatable unless he makes a follow up sequel video
I think that goes to dances moving for now
@@redtaileddolphin1875 yeah for sure
He's his own boss now
@@stevenqu3 become your own boss, work your own hours.
More proof that comedy and horror are so closely related. This is absolutely brilliant, so much nuance - excellent work!
BDG you absolute beast, even the camcoder is on the episode!
When people said Brian’s mustache made him look like a dad, I think he took it to heart.
We did it boys, we’ve reached maximum dad
Dadrian Dadvid GilDad
In the thumbnail he looks like the "Coincidence? i think not" guy from The Incredibles
hi brian
Remember that the last video BDG made was "That feeling when you bite into a pickle and its squishier than you thought it was gonna be"
And that it had nothing to do with any presidents
@@nataliejean2412 ?
@@Albatross0913 BDG made a twitter post that said that video wasn't going to have anything to do with presidents, but made it sound like it was.
@@ctbarrel8974 oh ok, I deleted twitter a while back so I never heard lol
YALL THE FIRST REWATCH WITH THE STRANGER IN THE BACKGROUND, I ALREADY GOT CHILLS TWO MINUTES INTO THIS - Brian is scary good at creating horror out of seemingly normal things
0:59 "We always want to keep the recording going forward." Feels like this could apply to Jake having to go forward, but instead getting stuck in this loop of the past, rewinding over the precious memory and distorting it.
10 years from now i'm gonna be watching a trailer for a new terrifying horror movie that captivates me and it'll say "directed by brian david gilbert" and i'll have a heart attack
Ten years, more like 3!
What about "directed by Jake brian gilbert"
Yeah and Karen Han judging by the credits!
And i’ll say “Look at you mr director!”
Yeah it was the new game changer episode
The "Jake, stay where you are" line activated some serious "Dad Is Scared" childhood instincts I didn't even know I had. Somehow that scared me more than the figure in the doorway.
Bravo as always.
yeah, if you had one of those dads that never really showed much fear, that scene really just makes you feel a _huge_ sense of "ohno"
The idea of a dad trying to be brave and protect his kid when he's terrified himself does really strike something deep within us, doesn't it
Every recording alternates between the bearded father and the shaved father. Both of them have different perceptions in regards to the situation that their in. However, it is only ever the bearded one that is dealing with the peculiarity of the situation. He's the one that sees the masked man. He's the one that acts with aggression and more. On the other hand, it is the other father that constantly reacts to his "son" with concern and a caring manner, asking questions and giving sound advice. Could this be a way that Jake dealt with his memories of childhood abuse? Sometimes his father was kind and understanding, and other times, cruel and aggressive. Could he have been trying to come to an understanding on why his father had such conflicting personalities. Could those masked figures and the overall fear the father was expressing be a justification Jake gives for his father's behavior? That his father wasn't a bad person but was just dealing with some things? Jake is trying to sort out the two personalities. For every good memory he had with his father, there was another that was equally off? He was trying to preserve the good memories, however, every time he went back, he found another equally horrifying? Could that be what the father meant when he kept trying to tell his son to not rewind? There wouldn't be any answers there. The final scene shows that the father walks away, seemingly hinting that the last memories that Jake had of his father were good ones. He closes the door, and that seems to be that. However, right at the left of the TV, there seems to be a flash of the masked man as the father finally exits, indicating that maybe the monster never truly left, and that his father would never be as good as he seemed. The monster lingers within Jake as trauma, as he constantly tries to come to terms with the father that wore two faces. Perhaps the reason the father was so concerned whenever he saw the "viewer" was because he felt guilt of the childhood that he took away from the son. "You won't find any answers here." The video also potentially demonstrates the internal battle the two fathers were waging within themselves. This is all a theory by the way.
here me out, because i can’t stop thinking about it:
is the shadowy figure meant to be the silhouette of the dad leaving and walking down the stairs; the last thing that jake saw as his dad left? i think it could make sense, especially with the idea of not being able to change what happened, it’s like being haunted by the inevitable. No matter how many times he rewinds, jakes dad will always leave and the shadow is just like the future catching up to them? Might not be as concrete as other theories but when i watched the light from the door carve out his silhouette it immediately struck me that it resembled the shadow figure, and that would be a pretty haunting image for a kid to see.
POV: Brian david Gilbert is your dad
Edit: Brian david gilbert is your dead dad
Edit: Brian David Gilbert is your undead dad
@@lettuceprime4922 edit: what the fuck
Brian David Gilbert is his own undead dad
Brian and Beard Brian are two separate entities. Brian gains self-awareness and is able to consistently communicate with Jake through the camera, while Beard Brian is slowly driven to insanity by the loop and his encounter with the dark figure in the hallway. Also, Beard Brian has a beard. That's fucked up.
There are also two seperate beard Brian's, one with a full beard and one with just a goatee
Goatee one appears twice, first one buffled, presumably from deja-vu, second time watching behind the camera and vanishing. He seems to be the one who feels the camcoder rewind but isn't aware of it: the second time he saw us, didn't understand what happened, then disappeared because he doesn't exist outside the frame
Does the jorts mustache/unraveled-season-2-brian-with-mustache exist in this universe?
@@mrs.stefonmeyers7156 jorts Brian seems to see similar effects, so maybe. Unraveled cannot be part of this universe yet, they aren't meta enough
Ya
i like how brian can go from absurdist comedy skits to psychological horror short films
Wouldya look at how dale is doing without his brothers, so proud of him
I feel so jealous of all the Jakes watching this. Their experience will be so much creeper than anyone else's, and for that I will always envy them.
Can confirm. extra creepy.
Not a Jake, but this did instill a tiny bit of depersonalization in me.
creeper aw man
This fucking terrified me.
Yeah. Was rough to sit through tbh.
I feel sorry for any stoned Jake watching this right now.
must be a "one of a kind" trip !
Yeah it got real weird for a bit there
Never watch this on Acid or you'll feel your understanding of world crumble around you.
I feel very peculiar
"You're not #"*&#..." implies that it isn't Jake.
Reminds if some SCP's, "nostalgic" ones that want to be in a fantasy of past.
As someone who works within the bounds of horror this is a stunning work of loss and failing to move on that is strengthened through it's simple premise and engaging visual ideas. Masterful work
Agreed. Something like this feels like it would be great as an intro or an outro for a film. A movie I feel like fits the vibe would be “Marrow Bone”. Something that summarizes trauma, leaving you uneasy and wanting more.
coming back to this 2 years later, it might still be my favorite video of brian's. the repeated rewinds of the tape slowly distorting itself the way toxically clinging to the memory of a loved one might, the way establishing the fourth wall makes us feel less safe by trapping us in jake's perspective as the 'viewer', even small stuff like the slow push in on the tv- it's just so smart and sad and scary all for the same reasons. even if brian never returns to this exact style of video again, I'll always hold this one in my heart.